Warming Up Julia Child: The Remarkable Figures Who Shaped a Legend by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz -- BOOK BEGINNING

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Warming Up Julia Child: The Remarkable Figures Who Shaped a Legend by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Julia Child was a person of great intelligence, drive, and accomplishment, but she did not work and achieve alone. This is a book about friendship and collaboration.

-- from Warming Up Julia Child: The Remarkable Figures Who Shaped a Legend by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz.

Last week, I finally visited the Smithsonian Museum of US History and saw Julia Child's kitchen. I'm a huge Julia Child fan, so this visit has been high on my list for a long time. It was well worth it. Very cool!

I bought this book at the Smithsonian gift shop and started it immediately, I've read many books by and about Julia Child. This one is a little repetitive -- they all are -- but it focusses on the people who helped Child create and launch Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her tv show, The French Chef. The author draws heavily from archived primary sources, mostly personal correspondence. It makes me feel like I was right there with Child and her team of helpers. I love it. 

I'm not so keen on the title, but that doesn't detract from the book. To me, Warming Up Julia Child sounds like she's leftovers. Or was left out in the cold. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Warming Up Julia Child:

After apologizing that she, not Bernard, was writing in thanks, Avis [DeVoto] stated, “I am green with envy at your chance to study French cooking.” With this she opened the conversation that the two would sustain for as long as Avis lived.

This book makes me long for the days of letter writing! The speed and convenience of email has cost us a valuable historic record. 

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Warming Up Julia Child is behind-the-scenes look at this supporting team, revealing how the savvy of these helpers, collaborators, and supporters contributed to Julia's overwhelming success.

Julia is the central subject, but Helen Horowitz has her share the stage with those who aided her work. She reveals that the most important element in Julia Child’s ultimate success was her unusual capacity for forming fruitful alliances, whether it was Paul Child, Simone Beck, Avis DeVoto, Judith Jones and William Koshland (at Knopf), and Ruth Lockwood (at WGBH). Without the contribution of these six collaborators Julia could never have accomplished what she did.

Filled with vivid correspondence, fascinating characters, and the iconic joie de vivre that makes us come back to Julia again and again, Warming Up Julia Child is essential reading for anyone who adores Julia and her legacy.

Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating our American tradition this week. It seemed to me like a perfect week to read about American food history.

One of the things I give thanks for are all you book blogging buddies who join me every week on Book Beginnings on Fridays! Thanks for gathering here each week to share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week (or just a book you feel like highlighting). 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

On a cool August morning in August 2009, I drove up a sloping, narrow driveway in Glen Ellen, California, on my way to visit the past. 

-- from Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr.

In this opening scene, Barr describes visiting Last House, the home of his Great Aunt, legendary American food writer M.F.K. Fisher. Fisher lived in Last House for over 20 years before her death in 1992. 

This is one of my picks for Nonfiction November. If you like food writing or are interested in the history of American food, you can see from the publisher's description of this book why it is so appealing:

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginning post in the linky box below. Use the hashtag #bookbeginnings if you share on social media, so we can find each other. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Provence 1970:

All this was percolating just as M.F., Child, Beck, Beard, and Jones gathered in Provence in December 1970. They would be joined by Richard Olney, a self-trained American cook who had long lived in France and had just published The French Menu Cookbook, outlining a bohemian version of the French ideal.

Monthly Wrap Up -- My November Books

 

MONTHLY WRAP UP

I got so caught up in Christmas prep that I forgot to post my monthly wrap up of the books I read in November. Doesn’t it feel like the last weeks of the year race by?  Between end-of-year work stuff and holiday festivities, I don’t know where my head is half the time.

MY NOVEMBER BOOKS

I read 13 books in November, including four for Nonfiction November. I love these theme reads that seem more popular with the the boom of bookstagram.

In the order I read them, not the order they are in the picture:

The Incredulity of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton. I’m working my way through all the stories. This one isn't in the picture at all because I read it with my ears. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie, the first of three Christie books I read in November just because I was in the mood. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman, one from my French Connections list and a fun trip to Paris! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Vol. 71 of Slightly Foxed from Foxed Quarterly, the Autumn 2021 edition. I count it as a “book” so I can keep track of which ones I read. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Rizzio, the new historical fiction novella by Denise Mina from Pegasus Books was an excellent way to spend a stormy afternoon. Great read! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie 🌹🌹🌹🌹

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday, which won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize. I wanted to like it more than I did, but the stream of consciousness, multiple narrators, and multiple narrative voices (including the always confusing second person) made it a difficult book to engage with. 🌹🌹🌹

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Past Tense by Lee Child. I have one more to go before I finish all the Jack Reacher books written by Lee Child (without his brother as co-author). Fine with me. I was an ardent fan, but I’m off them.🌹🌹🌹🌹

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I finally read this classic about living in the woods and can check it off my list! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme. If you want more of My Life in France, this is the book for you. I loved it.  🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

March Violets by Philip Kerr. This is the first book in his Bernie Gunther series and I’ll definitely stick with it. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Plum Sauce: A P.G. Wodehouse Companion by Richard Usborne is a deep dive into Wodehouse’s 97 books. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Also in the picture are the white camellias that bloom in my yard from November through Christmas. 

 

The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

What is something you are thankful for? 

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the USA, traditionally a time for reflection and gratitude. I'm grateful for my fellow book bloggers and all the bookish chats and connections we've had over the years!

One of my favorite things about book blogging is this weekly event, Book Beginnings on Fridays, where you can share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. It doesn't have to be the book you are reading -- you can share a book that caught your fancy.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I'm reading The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme:

The sun shone brightly as three flags – the American, Japanese, and District of Columbia – riffled in a breeze.

-- from Chapter 1, "Dinner and Diplomacy," Part 1, "White House, Red Carpet."

Alex Prud'homme is the nephew of Julia Child's husband Paul. He co-wrote her autobiography, My Life in France, one of my favorite books. 

I wanted to Read The French Chef in America this week because it seemed like a good book for Thanksgiving week, a week filled with cooking, entertaining, and family time. And because I wanted to get another book in for Nonfiction November.  

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post to the linky box below. If you post on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag so we can find each other. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

The counters were raised to thirty-nine inches from the floor, to accommodate Julia’s height. One lasting regret for Julia was that she did not specify that the counters have a two-inch overhang, which makes it easy to scrape crumbs or chopped vegetables into a bowl held below the work surface.

I'm not six feet, two inches tall like Julia Child, but I'm five nine and Hubby is six three. We understand what Julia was thinking! We raised all our counters when we remodeled our kitchen and love them. I wish I had thought about the extra overhang for scraping bowls -- that's a great idea!  

List: French Connections

France holds allure for most readers I suppose. Paris is a world capitol. French food is the basis of fine dining. The country has a rich history and culture. Everyone who reads has probably read at least one book about France, probably several.

I don't read books in French, and have to remind myself to read translations of French literature. But I go on tears when I like to read books about, or set in, France. In anticipation of such spells, I keep a list of Frenchy books I plan to read and always have a few handy on my TBR shelf.

What I liked best about Debra Ollivier's Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl, besides its perfect cover, were the book recommendations she salted throughout. Olliver listed specific recommendations in sidebars labeled "Le Livre" as well as book suggestions in mini-biographies of "French Girls We Love."

My list of French-themed books follows. These are books I have read or want to read. Those I had read are in rouge. Those on my TBR shelf are in bleu. Those recommended in Entre Nous are marked with an asterisk.

This is a long list, but I would still welcome suggestions! Please leave your idea in comments.

Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

Acquired Tastes by Peter Mayle

L’Affaire by Diane Johnson

An Alphabet for Gourmets by M. F. K. Fisher*

Anything Considered by Peter Mayle

Apéritif : Recipes for Simple Pleasures in the French Style by Georgeanne Brennan

Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (reviewed here)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A.J. Liebling*

Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan*

Break of Day by Colette*

The Castle of Pictures and Other Stories: A Grandmother’s Tales by George Sand*

Catherine de Medici by Honoré de Balzac

Chanel: Her Style and Her Life by Janet Wallach*

Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle

The Cheese Plate by Max McCalman*

Cheri by Colette*

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell

Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher

Corked by Kathryn Borel (reviewed here)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Courtesans: The Demi-Monde in Nineteenth-Century by Joanna Richardson

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Death in the Truffle Wood by Pierre Magnan

The Delta of Venus by Anais Nin*

Le Divorce by Diane Johnson

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Earthly Paradise: Colette’s Autobiography Drawn from Her Lifetime Writings, edited by Robert Phelps*

Elle Décor: The Grand Book of French Style by Francois Baudot and Jean Demachy

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Encore Provence by Peter Mayle

Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier (reviewed here)

The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons

The Flaneur by Edmund White* (reviewed here)

The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris by Patricia Wells*

The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here)

The Fragrant Year by Caire Louise Hunt*

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew by Peter Mayle

French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffry Greene

French Ways and Their Meaning by Edith Wharton*

The Gastronomical Me by M. F. K. Fisher*

Gigi by Colette*

The Glass-Blowers by Daphne Du Maurier

A Good Year by Peter Mayle

At Home in France: Eating and Entertaining with the French by Christopher Petkanas*

At Home in Provence: Recipes Inspired By Her Farmhouse In France by Patricia Wells

Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle

How to Cook a Wolf by M. F. K. Fisher*

Inspirations from France & Italy by Betty Lou Phillips

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Joan of Arc: Her Story by Regine Pernoud*

The Josephine Bonaparte Collection (a three-volume fictionalized biography) by Sandra Gulland*

Josephine: The Hungry Heart by Jean-Claude Baker*

The Lais of Marie de France*

A Life in Letters: Correspondence 1929-1991 by M. F. K. Fisher

A Literary Passion by Anais Nin and Henry Miller (letters)*

Living in Provence by Dane McDowellf

The Lover by Marguerite Duras*

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert*

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford*

Madame de Pompadour: Images of a Mistress by Colin Jones*

Mademoiselle Fifi and Other Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant

Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser*

Le Marriage by Diane Johnson

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vols. I and II, by Julia Child*

Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Messengers of Death by Pierre Magnan

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black (reviewed here)

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

Murder in the Sentier by Cara Black

My Life in France by Julia Child (reviewed here)

Nana by Emile Zola

Napoleon & Josephine: An Improbable Marriage by Evangeline Bruce*

Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The Physiology of Taste by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (translated by M.F.K. Fisher)*

A Place in the World Called Paris, edited by Steven Barclay

Postmark Paris by Leslie Jonath

The Power of Style by Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins*

Practicalities by Marguerite Duras*

Provence A - Z by Peter Mayle

Ravelstein by Saul Bellow

Remembrance of Things Paris: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet, edited by Ruth Reichl

The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France by Ina Caro

Rosa Bonheur: The Artist’s (Auto) Biography by Anna Klumpke*

Saint Joan of Arc by Vita Sackville-West*

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

The Sea Wall by Marguerite Duras*

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir*

Serve it Forth by M. F. K. Fisher*

She Came to Stay [L’Invitee] by Simone de Beauvoir*

Silk Roads: The Asian Adventures of Clara and Andre Malraux by Axel Madsen

Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux*

Son of Holmes by John LesCroarte

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Taste of Provence by Francie Jouanin

Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fizgerald

Therese Raquin by Émile Zola (reviewed here)

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Two Towns in Provence by M. F. K. Fisher*

The Vagabond by Colette

Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valle by James Haller (reviewed here)

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

Walks in Hemingway's Paris: A Guide To Paris For The Literary Traveler by Noel Fitch

A Well Kept Home: Household Traditions and Simple Secrets from a French Grandmother by Laura Fronly and Yves Duronson*

The Wine Bible by Karen MacNiel*

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle



NOTES

List updated April 9, 2020.

OTHER LISTS/OTHER READERS

Boston Bibliophile's list of French favorites

If you have a similar list or are reading the books on this list, please leave a comment with links to any progress reports or reviews and I will add them here.